Takuma Sato has stormed to pole position for Race 2 at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, only a week after romping to victory at the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500.
The Japanese racer, who hasn’t started from pole since Race 2 in Detroit back in 2014, topped the second segment of qualifying and therefore procured the odd-numbered grid slots for the drivers in his group.
Ryan Hunter-Reay will start alongside team-mate Sato on the front-row of the grid, after the Andretti Autosport racer topped the first qualifying segment, which was interrupted by a red flag delay after Carlos Munoz made contact with the wall on the exit of Turn 2.
Race 1 winner Graham Rahal will start from row two in P3, with his eyes firmly set on becoming the first driver to win both races during the Detroit doubleheader weekend.
However, Rahal will have strong opposition in the form of Brazilian veteran Helio Castroneves, who will start the race from P4 on the second row of the grid.
SPM Racing team-mates James Hinchcliffe and Mikhail Aleshin lock-out the third row of the grid, with Hinchcliffe in particular chasing another strong result, albeit without any mistakes like Race 1.
Will Power and Scott Dixon will start P7 and P8 respectively, with Power forced to take to the escape road at Turn 7 during the final moments of the second segment.
The 2014 champion initially started the second segment in competitive form, becoming the first driver to set a time faster than Hunter-Reay’s initial benchmark from the first segment.
However, the Penske racer’s rhythm was soon disrupted after light contact with the wall at Turn 6, before the likes of Rahal and Sato rose above him.
Marco Andretti and Conor Daly rounded out the top ten, with Daly looking for another superb start to the race after gaining nine positions during the opening laps of Race 1 before a mechanical issue forced him into retirement.
Further down the order reigning champion Pagenaud failed to trouble the sharp end of the order once again in P11, with Penske team-mate Josef Newgarden P13.
Former Formula 1 racer Esteban Gutierrez will start P19 for his second IndyCar race, after out-qualifying Oriol Servia and Spencer Pigot.
Meanwhile Munoz will start P22 and last, with the Columbian racer failing to set a timed lap before making contact with the barrier in the first segment.
